La alegre divorciada

After hearing Fred Astaire put his stamp in a song, it's hard to imagine anyone else attempting to improve in what seems to be the definite rendition of it. That is the case when Mr. Astaire sings Cole Porter's elegant "Night and Day". In pairing Ginger Rogers with Mr. Astaire, Hollywood hit the jackpot as it produced a winning combination that went from film to film with such ease and panache, it will never be imitated.

Mark Sandrich worked with Ms. Rogers and Mr. Astaire in several movies. Somehow, "The Gay Divorcée" is one of their best collaboration. This film is a lot of fun to watch, even after more than 70 years after it was made. It speaks volumes for all the people involved in the production of this movie.

The Great Depression was the right background when movies like this were made. In a way, it was an escape from the harsh realities of the times America was going through. The public went to the movies to see their favorite stars that were shown in such a glamorous roles. How could anyone not admire the great Fred Astaire, always impeccably dressed? Or how could not any woman in the theater envy Ms. Rogers's beauty and easy grace? That era made it right for Hollywood to show the world a sensitivity and sophistication that only few rich types were able to enjoy in real life, while the rest was trying to eke out a life of whatever work they could find.

The musical numbers are amazing. "The Continental" alone, must have blown the budget of the picture. Imagine how much it would cost today to have all those dancers in a sound stage! Not only that, but in that lengthy number, there are at least four changes of costumes for the women. Also, he is delightful singing "Looking for a Needle in a Haystack". A young and radiant Betty Grable makes an appearance singing "Let's K-knock K-knees" in which she shows a bit of her enormous charm and talent.

Ginger Rogers makes a gorgeous Mimmi Glassop. Alice Brady, is perfect as the dizzy Aunt Hortense. Edward Everett Horton plays an excellent Egbert Fitzgerald, the divorce lawyer. Erik Rhodes is one of the best things in the film; his Signor Tonetti injects a funny shot into the movie. Eric Blore, as the waiter, has great moments in the movie.

In setting the film in London and Brighton, a rich texture is added to this winning picture that will remain a favorite that will live forever because of the chemistry that Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire produced in anything they did together.

This was the first RKO film that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers did in which they are the central characters. In the first two they play wise cracking supporting roles, and if you don't know what is going on you might say "Hey, why don't Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio get out of the way and let Fred and Ginger do their stuff?". It was because Fred and Ginger as a team were a bit of a surprise to RKO.

At any rate, like I said, this seems like a warm up for "Top Hat" a year later, but it is still a great film. But the two share a few pieces of the basic formula. Fred and Ginger meet in such a way that annoys Ginger and gets Fred interested, and once Ginger begins to return Fred's affection a complete misunderstanding that Fred knows nothing about causes Ginger to lose all interest in a now confused Fred. Edward Everett Horton plays Fred's loyal but befuddled friend, and Eric Blore, who at first seems like a minor character who is in the film mainly to flummox Horton's character plays a much bigger part in the plot than you would ever imagine. Erik Rhodes plays an Italian who never really has a chance as third vertex in a triangle in which the other two are Fred and Ginger, but he plays that part with great comic style.

A couple of mistakes fixed by "Top Hat" that this one has - First, Fred Astaire is given no solo dance numbers. Second, too much Alice Brady can get annoying. In "Top Hat" her part is taken by Helen Broderick who had a great dry comic wit.

Still, highly recommended.

Quoting the Eric Blore/Alice Brady interchange in the restaurant, this movie is indeed whimsical (or "whumsical") and beautiful to boot. There probably has never been a more perfect dance than "Night and Day"....or a more beautiful song to dance to. That is the highlight of this film, although the rest of it is well worth seeing. Erik Rhodes is absolutely hilarious as the paid correspondent and the humor is not dated which is unusual in a film of this age. The "Chance is a fool's name for fate" routine is priceless. Edward Everett Horton again proves that he is the originator of the befuddled sidekick without being irritating and his little "dance" with a very young Betty Grable is such fun The art deco sets and great 30's clothes are wonderful and it makes you wish for a time when everybody wore evening dress and danced at the drop of a hat. Don't miss it...this is one of the highlight Astaire/Rogers efforts.

After their hit dancing of the "Carioca" in "Flying Down the Rio," RKO gave the teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers a star role in "The Gay Divorcée" in 1934.

With few exceptions, the plots of the Fred-Ginger films were excuses to get to the important part - the dancing - but the story lines were always pleasant and the casting good.

"The Gay Divorcée" was based on a Broadway musical (of which the only number retained is "Night and Day") and it appears that a few of its plot devices were adopted in later Astaire-Rogers films as well.

One such plot device is that of mistaken identity. In this movie, Astaire (reprising his Broadway role) is mistaken for a professional correspondent hired to help Rogers get her divorce. Another device is that at first, Ginger is never interested in Fred - that goes here, too.

And there's a stock cast in these films, namely, Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore (and of course, he's always the butler and always very funny). Horton plays Rogers' attorney whose major problem is Rogers' aunt (Alice Brady).

What can be said about the dancing except that it's glorious? Fred and Ginger dance to "Night and Day" after Astaire sings it to her. For a supposed non-singer, Astaire could really put over a song - his voice is pleasant and he's so musical - no wonder composers wrote songs for him.

Ginger is beautiful and spunky as Mimi, a young woman ducking Fred while she's trying to get a divorce. Betty Grable has a bit that showcases her in the number "Let's K-knock Kneez." There's also "I'm Looking for a Needle in a Haystack" delightfully sung and danced by Fred. Astaire's dancing is fantastic throughout.

It feels as if about half the picture is taken up with the elaborately staged production number, "The Continental." In later films, of course, the dancing would center more around Fred and Ginger, but it's a great part of the movie and certainly solidified these two as a top box office pairing.

For pure enjoyment, there's nothing like watching Astaire & Rogers in these movies.

Looking at THE GAY DIVORCEE through the lens of 85 years, I can see flaws with it. The big dance number goes on too long, and the comedy writing isn't sharp enough. Still, this was the first star pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and it's amazing how much they got right, right off the bat. There's the basic structure of Astaire courting Miss Rogers through a set of dances, while in between there are jokes and pulled faces and Edward Everett Horton doing several hundred double takes per minute as everyone's straight man.

It's based on Astaire's stage success The Gay Divorce. The name change was the result of the Breen office meddling. It's more a variation on the Princess Theater musical comedies of the 1920s, and the camerawork, although seemingly startling and original under the direction of David Abel, is more an outgrowth of German Expressionist camerawork, and bits and bobs from the best of contemporary British musicals. Add in Astaire's insistence on being seen full length while dancing -- which sounds obvious now, although not at the time -- and the formula required only a bit of refinement to produce a series of masterpieces.

You may notice Betty Grable at the bottom of the title card. She's the platinum blonde who makes love to Horton in the "Let's Knock Knees" number. She had been kicking around Hollywood since 1929, sometimes with a credit, sometimes, like her previous movie, without. She would never go uncredited again.